Jimmy
by cuzimaw3som317
Summary: Jinx finds a little boy and takes him in.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own the Teen Titans**

* * *

Jinx ran down the ally, up the fire escape, across the roof, into the next abandoned building, down three flights of stairs, past seven rooms, and finally ended in her home.

If you could call it that. It was an abandoned hotel-ish building, and this had been the only room with a working radiator. She'd dragged all the decent mattresses up to this room, stuck all their stuffing in one queen mattress, then filled the leftover room with soft things she'd found laying around. The results were surprisingly comfortable. She'd also found a bouncy, stuffed couch in rather good condition in the basement, amd she'd dragged it up five flights of stairs over the course of two days to get it in there. She'd found a working television that showed all the important channels (cartoons, news, lifetime, ect.), and a friend had given her a wonderful refrigerator that was always full, and she'd acquired a fast laptop. Why couldn't you call this fabulous place home?

Because this wasn't where she lived. Not even close.

Try an abandoned store in the bad part of town next to the train tracks, no radiator, pathetic TV with only the stupid news channel that she stole, no fridge, no soft couch, no nice mattress, nothing.

Just a lumpy pull-out couch she'd stolen from some garage sale across town. Not even a table. She was using bricks.

It was all Kid Flash's fault. Really, it was. If he'd just let her get away with _some_ priceless artifact, she'd have the perfect room. Or, at least, she wouldn't go to bed starving each night. Just the thought made her stomach growl. Time to russel up some grub. Literally.

She turned from her room, ran down the short flight of stairs in the two-story abandoned resturant, and burst into the sun.

Only to run smack into Jose's back.

She stumbled backwards, and before she gained her balance Jose had her pinned to the wall.

"Where're you going, girlie?" his words slurred together, and she smelled the alcohol on his breath.

Jose was this big, burly kid who ran with the wrong crowd. Jinx often went easy on him when she beat him up, never once used her powers on him. After all, he and she were pretty much the same. They were kicked out of their homes, got picked up by the bad guys, and made a mess of their life.

Just the typical teenagers of New York.

She banged his head in the wall hard enough to knock him out. Then she turned to the other members of his posse that she'd never bothered to learn the names of.

There were only five, and they were huddeling around this kid who was scared shitless. They were all glass-eyed and walking all over the place, so apparently Jose wasn't the only idiot today. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were going to do.

Jinx carried around a crowbar that she was fond of using, and she pulled it out now. One of the fifteen year olds apparently wasn't drunk enough to forget what usually followed the pulling out of the crowbar and ran. The others weren't so lucky.

_They're gonna feel this in the morning_, Jinx thought as she rammed one in the head. Another came at her with raised fists, but, after a kneeing in the nuts and a crowbar swung at the back of his head, he didn't come at her again.

Two down. Two to go.

The biggest one out of all of them, fat-wise, lumbered over to her before tripping, rolling a couple yards away, and banging his head against the long metal rods that layed nearby. Well. That was easy.

Big Mister Leader looked scared. She took a menacing step in his direction. He bolted. Good riddance. She looked at the kid.

And he _was_ a _kid_. About three years old, big, bright blue eyes, and flamming orange hair that stood in spikes. He was wearing a very dirty Superman shirt and even filthier jeans. He looked malnourished, which was probably because he was. All and all, a male version of Jinx when she was his age.

He. Was. A-Dor-A-Ble. Why anyone would abandon him was beyond-

The boys hand suddenly shot out, and a root jumped from the ground and wrapped inself around her waist. She was hoisted into the air, still holding on to her crowbar.

Oh. Because he was different.

Like her.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own the Teen Titans.**

* * *

"Hold on there, Big Guy," she yelled before he smashed her into a near wall. "Let's hold our horses."

His eyes were on the crowbar.

"You don't like the crowbar? Bad crowbar. Here, see? I'll just drop it right over there. Now, see? It's gone. Can we talk now?" she said, dropping the crowbar. The kid lowered her to the ground.

"There. Hi. My name's Jinx. I'm a friend. What's your name?" she asked, walking over and sticking out her hand. The boy didn't answer.

"It's ok, honey. I'm not gonna hurt you like those guys were. I mean it. I'm your friend. I'm like you."

He just stared at her.

"Ok, you want a demenstration? Here-" she shot an electric pink ball in the air that exploded like a firework, "-there. See? I'm a friend." She bent down a bit to his level as the kid looked at her in awe.

"What's your name?"

"Jimmy."

"Is that short for something?"

"Uh-huh. James Logan Erlinmyer."

"Wow. That's a cool name. I wish I had a name like that."

"What's your name?"

"Jinx."

"Yours is short."

"I know. Mine's not as cool as yours."

"Nu-uh. Hey, you want to be friends?"

Jinx smiled. Friends. She hadn't had a friend in a long time.

"Sure. C'mon, let's go find something to eat. You must be starving."

* * *

"Hey, Gee? Where're we gonna stay?" Jimmy asked. Apparently, five-year-old's couldn't pronounce 'Jinx' the way they used to.

"You can stay with me. You know that big building those guys from earlier were in front of? That's where I live, and I guess where you'll live now, too."

"Does it have TV? Does it have the news? I like watching the news, because it shows all the superheros and all the superheros are cool. Y'know that they all have cool powers like us? Y'know who my favorite is? Superman. He's awesome. He can fly, run real fast, he's super strong, he's got heat vision, he's got x-ray vision, and he's always beating the bad guys and he's always talking to that girl, Lois Lane. I think he likes her. He never talks to Clark Kent, but Clark always seems to get stories from him, anyway. Why do'ya think that is? My next favorite is Beast Boy. Y'know he can turn into all kinds of animals? My favorite is...." he babbled on and on. She was glad. Three-year-old's were supposed to be talkative. He was easier to get to know than anyone she'd ever met. She already knew that he liked to watch the news and who his fav superheros were. Apparently, he used to live in Metropolis.

"...y'know there's this guy Superman always talks to whose got orange hair like me and his name's also Jimmy and that he an' Superman are best buds? Isn't that cool? Hey, Gee? Y'know that the Teen Titans live here, right? Do you know them cuz you have special powers? Whose your favorite Superhero?" Jimmy asked as they headed back to the lot the abandoned store was in.

"Gee?" She looked up.

"Hm?"

"Who's your favorite hero?"

It was an easy question. Yet she found herself hesitating before she said, "I don't have one."

"Of course you do. Everyone has a favorite superhero, except villians, cuz they hate heros. You're not a villian...are you?" his blue eyes looked at her questionly, and his eyebrows pulled together a bit. Jinx looked at him a bit, then sighed.

"Ok, here's the deal. I've done some bad things. I've stolen, I've lied, I've manipulated. But I've never killed anyone. And I've never tried to seriously injure anyone. People will call me a villian because of things I did in my past. But I'm not a villian. Yes, villians steal, lie, manipulate. But villians don't care about anybody, and villians kill people. I am not a villian," she said firmly, bending down to look him in the face. He looked at her a second, then nodded.

"You still want to live with me?" she asked him. He nodded again. They entered the store and continued walking to the next floor.

"Gee?"

"Hm?"

"What did you steal?" Jinx smiled a bit. A small, sad smile. But she understood his curiosity.

"I stole food, mostly. Sometimes I took other things like jewelry and money, but that was only to buy more food. I try not to as much anymore, but I still have to, honey. I'm gonna hafta steal food for us to eat," Jinx said sadly.

They made it to the room in silence will Jimmy pondered. A ligthbulb seemed to actually glow above his head as he said, "What if we make money? Why don't you get a job? You could do your fireworks, I could grow flowers, we wouldn't have to steal! Wouldn't that work, Gee?...Gee?"

"I'm...I'm afraid we won't have anyplace to sell them, honey. People...people don't like me. They won't want to buy from me. They don't like my fireworks. Maybe your flowers would work?...But we still don't have a place to sell them."

"Can't we ask for help, or something? What if we asked the Teen Titans for help? They'd know what to do, and-"

"Maybe. But not now. You can ask them later. Right now, let's eat," Jinx interrupted, keeping her voice calm. She didn't know why she was getting so riled. Maybe the Titans _would_ help. But...no. Stay off that subject. Stay away from the Titans, Jinx. They think you're a villian. They won't listen to you.

And with that last thought, Jinx passed out the Subway sandwitches she'd bought with some guy's money. _That_ sure didn't make her feel any better.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own the Teen Titans**

* * *

"C'mon Jimmy, let's go," Jinx said, heading back down the street. Jimmy ran to catch up with her. They rounded the corner...

...and there stood Jose and his buddies.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here," the leader sneered. He sounded sober, which wasn't good. The boys were more ruthless when sober. Jinx stepped protectivly in front of Jimmy, who was clinging to her leg and looking at the boys with scared eyes.

"Look, Jakob, maybe we shouldn't...," Jose started before Jakob, the leader, silenced him. Jakob turned back to her.

"Thanks for holding the twerp, freak. I guess birds of a feather really do flock together. If you'll just hand him over, I might look over the fact that you humiliated us and owe us a beating. _Might_," he growled sneeringly. It was a weird combination.

Jinx answered by blasting him with an electric ball, picking up Jimmy, then running. When she was a good distance away, she looked back.

They weren't close, but they weren't stopping, either. They were still running after them. Jinx rounded the next corner, then turned down the next alley. She lifted a dumpster lid and placed Jimmy inside.

"No matter what, Jimmy, stay here. I'll come back for you when they're gone. Keep safe," she said, kissing his forehead as she closed the lid and ran off.

The gang took the bait. They chased her until she realized that there weren't as many as before. She looked up again. There they were. She was running at them. Then it hit her.

She was being herded.

She ran across the street, ignoring the honking cars. She had to shake them. She had to.

She saw a fire escape that lead to the building's roof. Perfect. She started scrambling up it-

-when someone grabbed her foot and threw her to the ground. She looked up as a shadow fell across her.

Robin.

"Whatever you stole, Jinx, the faster you give it up the nicer we'll be," he said as the rest of the Titans dropped from the sky. No, no, no, she couldn't deal with this, she had to get back to Jimmy, she had to-

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here," Jakob said from behind the Titans. _Wow_, Jinx thought. _Deja vu._

"More freaks to give a beating to. Well, this is just swell. We were just sitting around bored when pink-hair walks by with the little monster. And look what that's led to. The Teen Titans," Jakob said. _He must be crazy to try to take them on_, Jinx thought.

As Jakob and his gang advanced, Robin seemed to hit the lightbulb moment and yelled, "Titans-"

But he never got to finish his battle cry.

"Leave them alone!" a small voice said from behind Jakob. Whirling, the gang parted to show a little blue-eyed boy with flaming orange hair.

No.

"Jimmy, get outta here! I told you, I'll hold 'em off! Run!" Jinx yelled at him, scrambling to her feet and jumping on Jakob. He immediately responded by ramming her into the nearest wall, but she held on. The Titans seemed to be momentarily frozen, for they just stood and stared as one of the gang came up behind her and try and hit her with a bat. Jumping off, bat-boy ended up hitting Jakob. Suddenly waking up again, the Titans sprang into action.

Everything was going great until someone pulled out a damn gun and shot her in the shoulder. That's when Jimmy panicked.

All Jinx remembered were roots popping up, leaves pushing her toward the street, her falling on Raven, and watching Jakob as a root shoved itself through his chest. She remembered yelling, and the Titans grabbing the rest of the gang before they were choked by vines.

Then she was kneeling, her shoulder aching, hugging Jimmy and stroking his hair and telling him that everything was ok, everything was alright, it was just an accident, it wasn't his fault.

The witnesses thought otherwise.

"Monster!"

"Freak!"

"Criminal!"

"Villian!"

She squeezed Jimmy tight, covering his ears, but he still heard them. He heard them all.

"Jinx...," a familiar voice said. She looked up.

Kid Flash.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own the Teen Titans**

* * *

Kid Flash.

His red hair mirrored Jimmy's exactly. Her eyes were blurry, but he was unmistakable. And he was holding out a hand.

Jinx took it.

She started to stand, but she felt so dizzy. Her shoulder had lost a lot of blood. She fell, but Kid supported her. Not being able to move her legs, having only enough energy to fight unconciousness, she was forced to let Kid carry her. An arm dangled, and Jimmy grabbed it. She squeezed it slightly as she heard an ambulance in the distance, then she had no more energy to keep her eyes open. She thought she heard Kid say something, and she was almost positive that Jimmy was shaking her, but, after that, everything was black.

----

"Jinx! C'mon, you can't fall asleep! C'mon, stay with me!" Kid said as Jinx's eyes closed and her head fell on his chest.

"Gee? Gee! Gee, wake up!" the little boy cried, shaking her. Her body was totally limp.

"Kid! Get her to the tower. Star, Raven! Get the boy and hook Jinx up. We'll stay here and deal with things," Robin said in his don't-mess-around voice. Star fire grabbed the crying boy while Raven did one of her dissappearing tricks. She arrived at the tower a few moments after Kid.

Raven immediately set to work cleaning Jinx.

"Go," she said, shooing him as she lifted Jinx's eyelid and shone a flashlight onto it. Jinx didn't stir.

"Send Starfire in when she gets here," Raven added calmly as he trudged out.

He collapsed on the couch, his head in his hands. There was a slight breeze, and he knew Starfire had shown up.

"Raven wants you," he said in monotone. He felt her set something down next to him as she left. Looking up, it was the boy.

The boy was curled into a ball, sobbing quietly to himself. He had a moppy mess of orange hair that stuck out all over the place, and he was rocking himself. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and stared at Kid.

They were big and blue. Not to mention bright. Even then, with the life in them dulled, they shined.

"Do you...do you know if Gee's gonna be ok?" he asked. Kid hesitated a bit, wondering how much he should say.

"I think she will be," he replied, "Raven sure knows how to fix people up."

"Is...is the guy...is he gonna be ok?" the little boy asked, his eyes filling up again.

"I...I don't think so," he regrettfully told the boy.

"It was an accident," the boy started, "but when he hurt her, and there was blood everywhere, and I was scared and everything! I mean, we were walking back home from the grocery when we run right into those scary guys who were trying to hurt me that first day I met Gee, and then she was running, and then she dropped me into some smelly box and told me to stay there, that she'll get rid of them, and I knew they would hurt her, I just knew it! So I ran after them, and when I finally caught up the Teen Titans were there and the scary guys were trying to hurt them and then he shot Gee and I didn't mean to! I can't control it when I'm scared! I just wanted him to go away, I didn't mean to! You got to believe me, Kid Flash, you got to! I'm not a bad guy! I'm no villian! You gotta believe me, you just gotta!"

The kid had crawled into his lap and was clenching his shirt, trying to shake Kid. Kid pried him off.

"Whoa, there buddy, I believe you. And don't worry, I don't think you're a villian," Kid said. The boy seemed to relax.

"Is Gee gonna live?"

"Of course."

At that, the boy curled up and fell asleep in Kid's lap.

It was many hours later when Raven and Starfire came out. By then the boys had returned. Cyborg was chomping down some chow, BB was sniffing the little boy's hair, hiding behind the couch any time he stirred, and Robin was updating files.

"You can go in now. She's asleep, and probably will be until morning. You should probably bring the boy in with you," Raven said. Kid nodded, then, picking up the squirt, made his way to the ward.

Jinx was sleeping peacefully.

He hadn't realized that the boy had woken up, but all of the sudden he jumped out of his arms and ran to Jinx. Climbing onto the bed, the little squirt snuggled up beside her, his head fitting into her neck. Jinx rolled in the slightest bit toward him.

Who is this kid? Kid wondered, who can lower her walls, control plants, and fill her with such a deep devotion to protect?

Kid pulled up a chair, then settled in for the night, dreaming dreams that he would never remember, dreams were he was the little boy, were he lowered her defenses, were he crawled into bed with her...


End file.
